German Emperor Barbarossa will stop at nothing to conquer and build his empire. But a young man from Milan, along with his army of 900 men known as the Company of Death, is prepared to challenge the Emperor.
Once again, the plot summary makes this movie sound WAY better than it really is. Sword of War is an Italian movie shot in both English and Italian. The version I saw dubs the Italian language out. I can't say if there is a version that does the opposite.
Besides the fact that this is a medieval epic of a movie, what drew me to it was the presence of Rutger Hauer. Hauer is obviously getting up there in years, but he's still Rutger Hauer. Unfortunately, even he can't save this snore-fest of a movie.
All I can say is that I'm thankful my blu-ray player has a fast forward in 1.5x. It allows me to still hear the dialogue, only in faster speed. It was really the only way I could get through this movie. Now besides being absent a lot of the elements I enjoy in a movie; violent action, nudity, humor, this just plain wasn't done very well.
The only aspect of the film that I'll give props to was the cinematography which was absolutely beautiful at times. However, I can't help but feel this is often the case when dealing with a period film shot in Europe.
One other thing I did actually enjoy about Sword of War was the main actor Raz Degan. Mr. Raz really had a certain charisma about him that I gave attention to. Raz Degan Is the main Hero opposite Hauer's Villain. I can't say he's a wonderful actor, I just felt he had great charisma. Another standout was actress Kasia Smutniak, not because she was a great actress, but she was definitely pleasant for mine eyes to look at. If only... well. Nope, no nudity in this flick.
Towards the end of the movie, Sword of War really tries to be Braveheart and pretty much fails at it. The final battle sequence, however was the most enjoyable part of the movie. I haven't quite figured out if I like the digital gore in movies today or not. But the pace did pick up at least.
All in all, I'd definitely say you can skip this one. Unless you love Italian films, or have to see everything Rutger Hauer (Like Me). I wish I had passed this one up, because this movie could take my 2 hours away from me, but it couldn't take my FREEDOM!!!!!
Cast
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